Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies, Arts and Crafts | 0 Comments

The Heart of Art

Over the weekend I was invited to attend a Toy Making (well, redesigning/reconstruction more like it) Workshop with the Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP) at the Lopez Memorial Museum and Library. It surely was a wonderful way to spend a lazy Saturday morning and I had so much fun tapping into that creative side of me. The event was also attended by some other bloggers and a handful of art enthusiasts. During the workshop, we got to personalize and rework an ordinary vinyl or plastic toy, like those you get at the tiangges or in places like Divisoria for example, and make it into something different.

This was my piece, Astrogirl reinvented

The photos on top show the original toy, before I coated it with a white base and reworked it. I actually wanted to do something different, but I didn’t have enough time to do so. I think it  came out interesting, nonetheless. This was a piece inspired by my yoga practice, and my quest to find balance in my life. Nice right?

We had a lot of fun getting our hands dirtied during the workshop! We used Boysen Acrylic Latex paint, the kind used for walls and houses. I thought these paints would trigger my asthma and smell bad, but it didn’t at all and since it’s water based, it was quite easy to handle.

artists hard at work

My fellow artists also had a grand time making their own pieces, and this is what we came up with:

artist and jewelry maker Tara with her reworked bear

blooger Karen Ang's (aka Dementia of burymeinthisdress.com) dementia car

Toy Making Workshop Masterpieces!

During the workshop, we were told that we can actually do this technique for a wide range of other items and surfaces, which got me to realize, maybe that’s what I was doing all a long with my craft boxes and paintings on walls. According to Epjey, one of the members of PSP, this is actually inspired by graffitti art that can be seen in so many of our streets. This is also why the group is called Pilipinas Street Plan. It is a local community of artists that aim to make art accessible to all and to showcase local talents which is often grossly understated, and as stated in their blog, is “committed in showcasing and celebrating ephemeral artworks on streets. From graffiti, posters, stickers, objects and happenings”. And that’s actually  what the heart of art is all about, right? Tapping into that spontaneous , free-reined part of one’s self that needs to be expressed with no limits, no bounds, no censorship, just pure spirit no matter where it takes you.

In collaboration with the Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, the PSP has created a showcase wherein they have “mapped out” specific sites where graffiti art has taken place across the country. This is in line with their current exhibit, Extensions . The goal of the project, as I understood it from my conversation with MaryAnn, a representative from the musuem, is to be able to capture the essence of what Filipino artists are. In the musuem, a video is played on loop where it was said that the musuem hopes this will be a way of recapturing what the Filipino identity is all about. More so, the project, aptly called extensions, aims to highlight the fact that art is not just limited to the typical painting on a wall, but also to open up spaces and include different media as part of the true heart of art.

These were some of the wonderful paintings, artworks and installations I was able to see when I walked around the musuem:

The museum is located at the ground floor of the Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Ortigas Center and is open from Mondays to Saturdays from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

The toys we participants were able to make during the workshop are going to be on display and up for sale in this upcoming weekends Art in the Park event, which will be held in Salcedo park Funds raised from the project will benefit the Knowledge Channel. So, if you’re free this Saturday, February 19, and are looking for something different from the usual malling fun you and your family often do, do drop by the park

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Advocacies, Teacher's Corner, Teaching Resources, The Library | 0 Comments

When Little Readers Grow

One of my major advocacies as a preschool teacher, despite the fact I don’t read as much as I used to anymore, is to foster a love for reading in my kids. I feel a little guilty, actually, that lately I am not as able to integrate stories to my lessons as much as I used to, or want to for that matter. Before I would have a story EVERY single day. However now, I tend to have about 2-3 a week. Sigh.

What I try to do, however, is set aside book time everyday for the kids to explore the different books in class. I allow them to have free reign of the books they would like to check out and read during this period. I go around and sit with them and together we go through the book. Often times the books that are in our booktime shelf are those that we had read already, so they are often familiar with the story line. However today, as I sat beside one of my little girls, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how far her reading skills have come

isn’t she so cute! hehe. yes, those are real prescription eyeglasses.

Although the book in the picture, I think, is being read from memory, she can now read longer words and has a better grasp over sight words. At times, however, she still relies too much on this, but that’s normal Her phonetic mastery is also something she is able to rely on in our spelling games. Scenes like these are definitely going to be among those I will miss a lot pretty soon

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Classroom Escapades, College | 0 Comments

Today’s OH MY GOSH IM OLD Moment.

In class today we were playing one of those games where you throw out a question and the students answer whatever comes to mind.

Yes, I joined in and got toinked.

Question: If you were transported to cartoonland and can take on the personality of a cartoon character, who would it be.

My answer: Rainbow Brite.

Students: Rainbow who?

Ouch.

Ktnxbai.

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Teacher's Corner | 0 Comments

Kiddie Proofing and Hidden Dangers

Meet one of my favorite safety precautions in the classroom!

I don’t really know what it’s called, but basically its a mesh net that goes around the electric fan in order to avoid getting little fingers caught in the blades accidentally. It also helps keep lots of other stuff out of the fan, like my hair haha! Seriously though, over the years I have had a number of accidents from these fans. Thankfully we’ve never had a serious problem, but as always, its better to be safe than sorry right?

Besides electric fans, there are a whole lot of other hidden dangers in the school (or home for that matter) setting.  This goes beyond the obvious, of course (i.e. electric sockets, scissors, chairs and tables, door jambs etc.) Other potential dangers I have encountered include the following:

• television stands without wheel locks
• scotch tape dispensers
• hot glue guns, even unplugged!
• rubber mats that have have no rubber grips (yes, those cheaper versions of the rubber mats that can be found in most department stores, not so good I tell ya!)
• shoelaces
• edges of books (ayayay…I’ve had bruises and bumps from these I tell ya!)

The biggest danger, however: the kids bags! I swear!!! These little kids are so tiny but for some reason, they have these huge ginormous bags. My toenails have been dead permanently since I started teaching preschoolers I tell ya! Now if you figure out a way to teacher-proof me from the kids, please do lemme know!!!!

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Posted by Teacher Ria in Lesson Plans, Teaching Resources, The Library, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments

Green Eggs and Ham Day!

The other day after our discussion about birds, I finally did one of my all time favorite story stretchers…

Green Eggs and Spam!!! Yey!!! For today I decided to have them color the eggs green first and place them on a nest just for kicks

It was a joy to see the kids try to figure out how to hold the eggs and navigate through the shape without cracking or squeezing too hard. Some of them were even brave enough to venture designs in their eggshells

Before the actual cooking activity, we went through the book, Green Eggs and Ham then we went on to experimenting on how to make our own version of the dish

Since most of my kids are readers already, I also let them take turns reading through the book. To further up the academic difficulty of the task, we also listed down the ingredients and procedure we did, then we went on to charting how many kids liked or did not like our little experiment.

As a finishing touch, we also answered some word problems about it